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PubMedDate not supplied

[Health needs of adolescent girls in the area of reproductive behavior].

Most users (64.1%) of the Counseling Unit for the Young are unmarried girls aged 17 to 24, predominantly students and secondary pupils. Although more frequent in older girls (21-24 years old), pregnancy is highly undesirable both in younger (22.2%) and older (57.1%) ones. Since they are most often nulliparae, the underlying health problems are significant. The girls are considered to be pregnant before their coming to the Counselling Unit, because afterwards 83.0% of them start using contraceptives. The health service for adolescents is encountered with two tasks: (1) to get adolescent girls coming to the Counselling Unit before they experience pregnancy in a negative sense, and (2) to observe and analyse the efficacy and side-effects of contraceptives.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Behavioral and reproductive differences in mice as a function of inbreeding.

Twenty brother-sister pairs of mice were randomly selected from a genetically heterogeneous population of mice to begin a schedule of inbreeding that lasted for six generations (F = 0 to F = .732). We examined a number of indices of reproductive behavior and found that all declined as a function of inbreeding. Specifically, there was a consistent decline in the number of fertile matings, in the number of offspring that survived to weaning, and in the weight of the pups at the time of weaning (21 days of age). We also examined a number of behaviors with the following results: there was a systematic increase in the number of trials required to learn an active avoidance task and a consistent decrease in the number of trials required to extinguish this habit. We observed a statistically significant difference in the retention of a passive avoidance habit, but these results were quite variable and not consistent across generations of inbreeding. Finally, we observed that inbreeding had little effect on measures of locomotor behavior.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

Genetically heterogeneous and selected lines of rats: behavioral and reproductive comparison.

Avoidance learning, open-field, and reproductive behaviors of a genetically heterogeneous stock (derived from a four-way cross of selected lines) were compared with the corresponding behaviors of the parental lines. The heterogeneous stock showed heterosis on the body development, fertility rate, litter size at birth and at weaning, and directional dominance on the avoidance learning and open-field measures.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Isolation and characterization of opioid peptides in the avian brain.

Neuropeptides are supposed to be implicated in the regulation of hormone as well as nonhormone dependent behavioral processes in birds. Previous immunohistochemical studies have suggested that in birds opioid pentapeptides, Met- and Leu-enkephalins, may be present in the brain including the regions that regulate sex hormone dependent behaviors, such as reproductive behaviors. To determine biochemically the presence of opioid peptides in the avian brain, a study was conducted to isolate these peptides from Japanese quails and zebra finches. Acetic acid extracts of the quail and finch brains were respectively forced through disposable C-18 reversed-phase cartridges, and then the retained material was subjected to the cation-exchange and reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) purifications. All of the purified substances showed a single peak on the reversed-phase HPLC and these substances enhanced spontaneous contractions of the avian rectum. The purified bioactive substances were further subjected to amino acid sequence analysis and were characterized as peptides with the following sequences: Tyr-Gly-Gly-Phe-Met, Tyr-Gly-Gly-Phe-Leu, and Tyr-Gly-Gly-Phe-Met-Arg-Phe. These three peptides were identical with opioid pentapeptides, Met- and Leu-enkephalins, and a heptapeptide, Met-enkephalin-Arg6-Phe7, which had been previously isolated from mammalian species. This is the first direct demonstration of the presence of opioid peptides in the avian brain and confirms previous immunohistochemical findings suggesting a functional role for the opioid peptide in neural mechanisms of avian reproductive behavior.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1978

Somatic, behavioral, and reproductive disturbances in mice following neonatal administration of sodium L-aspartate.

Sodium L-aspartate (ASP) was administered to neonatal mice according to an increasing dose schedule from Days 2--11 after birth. Adult ASP-treated animals showed large increases in body weight over controls along with stunted body length. The ASP group also showed decreases in locomotor and exploratory behavior. Reproductive dysfunction occurred in both female and male ASP-treated animals. Among treated animals, females had fewer pregnancies and smaller litters while males showed reduced fertility. Evidence of multiple endocrine dysfunction in ASP-treated animals was reflected by decreased pituitary, thyroid, ovaries and tested weights, along with delayed onset of puberty in females. These results demonstrate that sodium L-aspartate produces a syndrome similar to that seen following the administration of monosodium L-glutamate.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The neural basis of motivated behavior.

A complete motivated or goal-oriented behavioral act can be viewed as consisting of initiation, procurement, and consummatory phases. In order to gain some insight into the organizing principles of neural circuitry that underlies the expression of motivated behavior, certain basic pathways thought to play an important role in two specific classes of such behavior, hypovolemic thirst and reproductive behavior, are reviewed. In both cases, humoral factors participate in the initiation phase, and their sites of action have been rather clearly defined. Circuitry underlying the procurement phase, which involves foraging behavior, is much more complex, but can be thought of as involving two fundamentally different systems, one concerned with the processing of specific sensory information and the production of refined motor responses, and the other concerned with modulating behavioral state. The former is associated primarily with the thalamocortical-lateral forebrain system whereas the latter is associated primarily with the medial forebrain system. Finally, evidence favoring the hypothesis that "biochemical switching" may take place in fixed neuroanatomical circuitry associated with ingestive and reproductive behaviors is reviewed.

Angiotensin II↗
PubMed1983

[Sex behavior and reproduction of farm animals].

The sexual behaviour of farm animals was followed up both at loose-pasture raising and under industrial conditions. It was studied in estrus, in the search for a sexual partner, with regard to the tolerance of the female animals for the males in the sexual act, with regard to the herd hierarchy, the intraspecies relationships, and the condition of dominance, aggressiveness, and subordination. The role is stated of the presence of male animals in the herd for the regular course of the sexual cycle, and the shortening and synchronization of the estrus. Discussed is also the importance of the artificial visual, sound, olfactory, tactile and other stimuli of the behaviour of the male breeding animals in substantiating the coitus and the proper semen production. It was found that the reproductive process is largely dependent on on the sexual reactions of the animals, which requires a proper knowledge with regard to the substantiation of each sexual cycle. Thus, it is stated, higher conception and fertility rates are to be expected. It was also established that under the conditions of industrial technologies of raising the number of behavioural reactions in their use was strongly reduced because of the lowered contact between the individual groups, while the practice of artificial insemination thoroughly rules out the contact between the male and female animals.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

The significance of the nest-building of the nine-spined stickleback, Pungitius pungitius.

The reproductive behavior of the stickleback is unique and odd, occurring inevitably with nesting. However, upon investigation, it has been found that nesting is an obstacle to hatching. The author conducted a survey in the necessity of nesting behavior in the nine-spined stickleback, Pungitius pungitius, and reached following conclusion: For Pungitius pungitius, nesting is the means of communicating to descendants settlement at a fixed area where cold water flowed bountifully and the water temperature was constant. Pungitius pungitius has evolved a behavior pattern that involves settling where water temperature is uniform, without evolving physiologically or morphologically, thereby enabling Pungitius pungitius to adapt to the changes in environment.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Estrogen-behavior correlates in the reproductive physiology and behavior of the ruffed lemur (Lemur variegatus).

The animal subjects of this study consisted of seven male-female pairs, living an open-air, off-exhibit area of the San Diego Zoo. Daily urinary estrogen levels in each of five females were measured and daily behavioral observations of the seven pairs were made. Behavioral patterns aligned by objectively determined, discrete physiologic events were analyzed to determine their temporal correlation to changes in estrogen excretion. The data indicate that approximately one-sixth of the female behaviors and one-third of the male behaviors sampled were significantly correlated to urinary estrogen levels in the females (P less than 0.05-0.005). In addition, both attractivity and receptivity were distinguishable and their component behaviors in males and females were found to be related to the estrogen profile. Proceptivity, however, was only weakly identified and its description in this sample population was ambiguous. Mating was observed to occur exclusively on 1 day, presumably the day of ovulation.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Interactive effects of behavior and reproductive hormones on sex differences in risk for coronary heart disease.

It is well known that women in the United States, as in most industrialized countries in the world, are protected from coronary heart disease (CHD), relative to men. It is thought that this protection is by and large due to the effects of female reproductive hormones (i.e., estrogens) on lipid and lipoprotein metabolism and blood pressure, although women's relatively low rates of cigarette smoking are also thought to play a role. However, epidemiological studies that statistically adjust for sex differences in lipids, blood pressure, and smoking status cannot explain sex differences in CHD morbidity and mortality. Also, inconsistent with a simple main-effect model of reproductive hormones are data showing elevated risk of myocardial infarction and stroke among women who use oral contraceptives. Men who are prescribed estrogens have elevated risk of CHD, and case-control studies show that male CHD patients have elevated estradiol, compared to controls. This article suggests that simple main-effect models of female protection from CHD are inadequate. It argues that reproductive hormones are important determinants of protection from CHD, in interaction with behavioral characteristics. It also demonstrates that reproductive hormones can influence behavioral characteristics and that behavioral characteristics can influence the effects of reproductive hormones on CHD risk factors.

Arousal↗
PubMed1988

Methoxychlor induces estrogen-like alterations of behavior and the reproductive tract in the female rat and hamster: effects on sex behavior, running wheel activity, and uterine morphology.

The current investigation was designed to determine if the pesticide methoxychlor (M) mimicked the effects of estrogen in the brain and on behavior. Running wheel activity (RWA) and sex behaviors were evaluated in this study because the role of estrogen in the regulation of these behaviors has been thoroughly established. M exposure at 400 mg/kg/day (90% pure) induced high levels of acyclic RWA and persistent vaginal estrus in the female rats. Following ovariectomy (ovx), RWA declined precipitously in controls but remained at high levels in M-treated-ovx females. M also produced estrogen-like alterations of the uterine endometrial epithelium, the ovary, and growth after ovx. In another study, ovx female rats were dosed with M at 200 mg/kg/day and then with progesterone (P). P acts as an antiestrogen and specifically suppresses estrogen-induced RWA. P blocks the synthesis of estrogen receptors in the CNS and reproductive tract but does not lower RWA induced by nonestrogenic mechanisms. After 14 days of M administration RWA was increased fourfold over the ovx-oil-treated females. Subsequently, P injections reduced RWA levels far below those seen when the ovx-M-treated rats were injected with oil. The P-induced decline represents a 95% inhibition of the M-induced increase in RWA. Subsequently, M-treated-ovx rats and hamsters were injected with P and tested for their ability to display reproductive behaviors when paired with a stud male. Female sexual behaviors are induced by the administration of estrogen followed by progesterone. In this study the M-treated females displayed reproductive behaviors, in contrast to the oil-treated rats and hamsters. The observation that the high levels of RWA induced by methoxychlor treatment in ovx rats can be suppressed by concurrent progesterone injections demonstrates that the increase in RWA is due to the estrogenic effects of methoxychlor on the CNS. The fact that methoxychlor, followed by P injections, induces behavioral estrus in the rat and hamster extends this estrogenicity to other areas in the CNS.

Animals↗